Mormon Trail Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska After leaving Nauvoo, IL, the Saints slowly made their way through the mud towards Council Bluffs, IA where they camped for the winter. They eventually created their own temporary town near Omaha, Nebraska. Here they prepared for their journey, where they would eventually leave the US and settle in what
Trail of Hope in Nauvoo, IL As the Saints were forced to leave their homes in Nauvoo, they lined up their wagons along Parley Street as they waited for the ferry. We walked down the street and read signs with written accounts left by people as they left. Due to all of the rain, the Mississippi
Historic Nauvoo, IL, Hands on Experiences History Nauvoo features many re-enactments and hands on lessons. The kids loved the lessons. Bricks were critical in the building up of Nauvoo. We learned about the history of making bricks in Nauvoo and how they were made. In the Browning Home, a volunteer taught us about Jonathan Browning
Historic Nauvoo, IL, Part 1 The early members of the Church of Jesus Christ settled in Nauvoo, IL. The town is now a historic visitors center with volunteer / missionary re-enactments. The town is next to the Mississippi River and from basically everywhere in town, you could look up at a bluff near town and
Carthage Jail, Illinois In 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother were killed while imprisoned in the Carthage Jail in Illinois. The building is now owned by the Church of Jesus Christ, so we stopped at the visitors center, watched a brief movie about it, and took a tour of the jail. The rock
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Hall of Fame While drive cross-country, we stopped at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 and many other races. While there, we visited the Racing Hall of Fame and Racing Museum. We are able to watch a short video about the history and see many of the winning cars.
National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio While determining which route we should go, we had the decision of going through Chicago or Dayton and Indianapolis. Knowing about the Air Force Museum and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made the decision a little simpler. The National Museum of the US Air Force is the largest military aviation museum
Historic John Johnson Farm About 30 minutes east of Akron, Ohio is a small town called Hiram, Ohio, where the Historic John Johnson farm is found. As the members of the Church settled in nearby Kirtland, and the headquarters of the Church was eventually relocated there, the Johnson's learned of the Prophet
Historic Kirtland Ohio Ashery Prior to our tour, I had never heard of an ashery and couldn't have guessed all that it did. During the early to mid 1800's, all towns in the US had an ashery. Towns people would sell their hardwood ashes at the ashery. Then the ashery
Historic Kirtland Ohio Kirtland, Ohio has been on our list of places to see since we moved to DC. So much of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ took place there. The Church has an excellent visitors center that includes tours through the buildings, many of which are original. Our guide
Kirtland Ohio Temple The Kirtland, Ohio temple was the first temple built by the Church of Jesus Christ. It snowed overnight while we were in Kirtland, so we were able to visit the temple with the beautiful snow cover. Our tour was guided by one of the maintenance workers, who obviously was passionate
Western New York Welcome Center On our drive to and from Niagara Falls, we passed the Western New York Welcome Center. So on our return trip we decided to stop. It was a beautiful building full of local history, artifacts, and a cafe featuring locally sourced ingredients. New York now has Text Stops, so you
Nicola Tesla Monument at Niagara Falls The first hydroelectric power plant in the world was at Niagara Falls and Nicola Tesla was instrumental in its design and creation. The plant was built in 1879 and by 1881, the streets in Niagara Falls were illuminated with electric lights. In honor of him, there is a Nicola Tesla
Grandma and Grandpa Knight come to visit day one: San Jose We made a stop at the San Jose Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is really close to the airport. Next, we went to the Jade Museum in downtown San Jose. It houses many pre-columbian artifacts, and cultural history exhibits. We then went
The National Cathedral in San Jose, Costa Rica I always enjoy visiting the Catholic Cathedrals in cities I have visited. The National Cathedral in San Jose, Costa Rica was no exception. It was absolutely beautiful inside, which was complemented by the Christmas music and the Nativity scene. It was a nice break from the noise and business of
The National Theater of Costa Rica The National Theater of Costa Rica was built in 1897. It was originally to be funded by the coffee barons, but they eventually stopped funding the construction and the tax payers picked up the bill to finish it. It is considered the fanciest historic building in Costa Rica and had
The National Museum of Costa Rica The National Museum (El Museo Nacional) was an old military fort that was converted into a museum when the military was disbanded following the Costa Rican Civil War in 1948. It was a nice museum including pre-columbian artifacts and history, as well as Costa Rican history. The butterfly room
A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre We attended a live performance of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens at the Ford's Theatre this weekend. It was the first professional live performance that we have take the kids to. Everyone really enjoyed the performance and having it in THE Ford's Theatre was really
The World Largest Radio Telescope, Green Bank Observatory, WV Not far from our Airbnb in Monterey, is Green Bank, West Virginia -- home to the Green Bank Observatory. The Green Bank Observatory is the world largest radio telescope. It is nestled in the hills to block as much electromagnetic radiation as possible. The area is designated as a National Radio
Virginia City, NV Tour with Grandma and Grandpa Virginia City, NV is always a fun places to visit as a family. We started with the beautiful Catholic Church: Then took a historic guided train ride. Tucker really likes mining and minerals, so we want to take a tour of one of the mines from the 1800's.
George Washington Masonic National Memorial Friends in the Chevy Chase area recommended that we visit the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. Despite it being one of the tallest buildings in the Virginia skyline, we hadn't heard of it and didn't even know it existed. Architecturally, each detail had been perfected. Even
The Awakening at National Harbor, MD For a long time, I have wanted to see The Awakening sculpture, which is now at National Harbor, MD. So we finally decided to go; unfortunately, on a hot and humid day. It was an interesting sculpture, but it gets really hot, so the kids didn't really want
Newseum We have talked about it for quite a while, but never made it to the Newseum. So Scott and Lori's visit gave us the excuse to finally go. The kids were able to be news anchors, weatherman, and to see key moments in modern history as portrayed through
Fairfax Revolutionary War Re-enactment While Scott and Lori and their children were here, we decided to visit the Fairfax Courthouse and were surprised to find that is was open. The Sons of the American Revolution were re-enacting the signing of some documents; unfortunately, we missed the actual presentation. But it was really neat
Private Tour of the US National Capitol Scott arranged a private tour of the Capitol for our families with his House of Representatives congressman. We ate lunch in one of the congressional office buildings, then met in at the Congressman's office, where one of the interns started our tour. Unfortunately, we still had to wait
